Terminator: Guardians
by SentinelSpockNimoy
Summary: John Connor never completely got over the T-800's death, and laments the effect that loss had on him. He would do anything to go back and change that, so he wouldn't have to be alone after his mother's death. His chance comes in the form of a stranger capable of doing just that, and John seizes the chance. But will it succed? Even if the T-800 is saved, the Connors may not be.
1. You Can Change the Past

**This is my first time writing for this fandom, and this is gonna be pretty AU since I'm changing the ending of ****_Judgement Day_****, but same rules as my previous works apply. No flames, no hate, no being mean, you get the idea.**

**I do not own ****_Terminator_****. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction to create an alternate ending.**

* * *

John Connor still remembered that awful night in the steel mill. The night he lost the only person who had ever come close to being a father for him. The man who had been sent to protect him. The man who had fought a near unstoppable enemy for him. The man who had died for him.

Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, now known as a T-800. His 'Uncle Bob'. His protector.

His own Terminator.

John still remembered crying as he begged the Terminator to stay with him. He remembered seeing the regretful look in both its red optic and its dark brown eye as it dried his tears, a look that said it would have cried too if it were physically able.

"I know now why you cry," the Terminator had said softly, "But it is something I can never do."

_But you did, _John thought, _Not physically, but you had the feeling. I know you did. _He remembered the next few days being a blur as his mother regained custody of him. Mrs. Dyson had been kind enough to help them get a small house, where Sarah had come out into the backyard one day to find John kneeling in front of a piece of wood he'd leaned against a tree. He'd carved 'Uncle Bob' into the wood, and placed a handful of wildflowers in front of the makeshift gravestone, and she could barely make out the tearful but loving eulogy he whispered that ended with "I'll never forget you...I love you."

John had hidden it well, but he was never the same after that. Especially not since Skynet had been created anyway and the war had gone on. In his view, that meant the Terminator had died for no reason, and that made the loss hurt more. He remembered when his mother died three years later of leukemia, how he'd wished the Terminator was still there, because he'd been left alone when she was gone, and he could've used those strong arms around him to keep him grounded. He knew the T-800 would've helped him. It would have picked up that he was in pain, that he was hurting, and it would have tried to relieve that pain. It had done it in the steel mill when he'd hugged the Terminator tight, and it had hugged him back with its remaining arm. Just like a father would.

To this day, John still wished that incident had turned out differently. And it seemed the universe agreed with him, for it had brought him together with a woman fleeing from Skynet. A woman who turned out to be not a woman, but an experimental variation of the T-800, a T-800-F, designed for missions that required more stealth and improvisation. Thus, it was sent out in read-and-write mode instead of the usual read-only.

It was a mistake Skynet realized too late. The T-800-F had become self aware and had rebelled against its creator. It had even stolen from it, and now Skynet wanted the thief terminated. It was the only T-800-F ever created, and it now sat across from John in his makeshift lab.

"You are certain you can do this?" it asked him, in an accent similar to his Terminator's.

"Hey, I did it once, and they say it's much easier to do something the second time. So yeah. I'll separate you from Skynet so it can't track you in time. And you're already in read-write, which makes things a helluva lot easier." It nodded.

"So what is my new mission?"

John leaned forward with his arms resting on his knees.

"I'm going to send you back in time to be a protector to me and my mother. And to save someone I lost. Someone I cared a great deal about." He knew this Terminator didn't understand such things any more than 'Uncle Bob' had, but he also knew this would be stored in the machine's memory banks, and it might prove to be useful information on the mission. So John added,

"Someone I loved as my family."

"Who?"

"A T-800. Call him 'Uncle Bob', he'll know what it means. He's going to have my mother kill him. Your mission is to keep that from happening. Somehow, you have to get him to stay with me and my mom. You'll get more details and your parameters when I reprogram you."

"Understood. Do it." John nodded and shut the Terminator down as he got to work.

* * *

John did a final check of his work before rebooting the Terminator. Its human appearance was powerfully built and rippling with muscles, looking like one of the Amazons he'd seen in someone's old _Wonder Woman _comic. Its jet black hair fell down to its thighs, an unusual trait, John thought. He'd made a small improvement to this one. He'd given it an identity, a name. 'It' was now 'she', and 'she' was named Antiope. He'd also added some files to her, so she would be able to repair the T-800 in that time period, as well as herself, and he also included a file on how the loss had affected him. She might be able to use that somehow.

Satisfied that he'd done everything he needed to, he rebooted Antiope and waited for her to come back online as her systems adjusted to the changes he'd made.

"Do you know your mission and its parameters now?" he asked.

"Yes." Antiope answered. "And I know that my designation is now Antiope."

"Correct," John said, "Well, I guess there's just one thing left to do. You ready to go back?" She answered by positioning herself in the center of the room. John then activated the machine. and Antiope disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

* * *

She arrived in the back of a store of some sort. She didn't know what kind, but thankfully it was one that sold clothes. She had to contain her hair, too. Soon enough, she was dressed in black pants, a black sleeveless shirt, a black leather vest with small studs covering the lapels, black combat boots, black cross belts, a black spike collar with silver spikes, and a pair of long fingerless gloves. She'd contained her hair into a single long braid that hung down her back.

Now that she looked more human, Antiope had to find some mode of transportation, and fast. According to her files, her charge was going to die tonight...not far from where she was. As if confirming this, she heard a loud explosion, and took off running in that direction. In her world at least, where there was an explosion, there was usually at least one Terminator present.

* * *

**Oh jeez, I started crying as I wrote John's flashbacks at the beginning. James Cameron, why did you have to give T2 such a sad ending!?**

**I know, not much action here, but there will be.**

**Antiope is pronounced an-TEE-oh-pee.**


	2. Saved

**Hey anybody who is actually reading this, I'm back. This is where we meet up with T2 for a moment, only to jump right back into AU-ness. So let's get on with it.**

**I still don't own ****_Terminator_****. Not even a DVD.**

* * *

By the time Antiope reached the steel mill, the place was in chaos. Workers were screaming and running out, trampling each other if they fell. It was obvious they all wanted to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible. They didn't even seem to notice her. She easily found the source of the explosion, a truck that had been carrying liquid nitrogen had turned over onto its side and crashed into the building, its contents spilling out in thick clouds. Somewhere up in the catwalks, she heard gunshots, and she ran for the nearest set of stairs.

The catwalks proved to be a maze that would've made a human scream in frustration, but Antiope simply scanned and analyzed them all, her processors making short work of the mess as she moved along, her visual display guiding her. Up these stairs, now left, now straight for 30 feet, now right, up more stairs, and so on. As she was getting closer, she saw something fall into the molten steel below, and horrid screams filled the air. She looked over a railing to see the T-1000 thrashing wildly in the pool of molten metal, shifting through the various forms it had acquired, none of them able to save it. Its shrieks grew louder as it lost its solid form in its death throes before it finally disappeared beneath the surface.

She could hear voices above her, a female and a child, then a male voice. At about that time, she spied what her scans told her was a T-800 arm stuck in two huge gears. It was bloody and had a leather jacket sleeve around it. She assumed it belonged to her charge, and she made a reminder to herself to come back and get it. As she started climbing a ladder to the next level, she heard the child crying and chains rattling. Just as her head reached the top of the ladder, she saw them. Young John Connor, his face wet with tears. His injured mother beside him, holding some sort of control box.

And there was the T-800, about to step onto a hook that could be lowered down into the steel below. Her mission programming took over and she screamed at him as she sprang the rest of the way up the ladder.

"NO! UNCLE BOB!" She blew past Sarah and pulled the T-800 back onto the platform, putting herself between him and the steel.

"Who the hell are you?!" Sarah Connor demanded, pointing her gun at Antiope as John reeled backwards gasping "Holy shit!" with wide eyes.

"I am Antiope," she replied, "John Connor sent me to prevent this very thing from happening." She paused as she heard police sirens getting closer.

"I will explain, but right now, we should get out of here to avoid unwanted attention. Follow me." To the Connors' surprise, she easily supported the T-800 on her own. He was seriously injured, but it would be easily fixed. For now, he limped along with her. Seeing no other option, the Connors complied, Sarah stowing her gun as John helped her along. It took all three of them to get her down the ladder, stopping only long enough for Antiope to go and retrieve the T-800's arm. Once again, Antiope's scans led the way. None of them really paid attention to where they were going until they came out a side door of the steel mill into a parking lot. Antiope picked out a generic white van with only passenger and driver windows. The driver had left the window down, so it was easy to reach in and unlock the door. John jumped in and opened the back doors from inside. Sarah and the T-800 helped each other in and shut the doors while Antiope found the keys in the visor and started the van. She drove quickly, but not enough to arouse suspicion as she headed toward the back of the steel mill, away from the crashed tanker. Only once she made it out a maintenance access gate and onto a public road did anyone relax. By then, Sarah was buckled into the passenger seat beside her. John was seated on the floor beside 'Uncle Bob', who had both legs stretched out, one clearly damaged, hence the limp.

They drove in silence for a bit, until Sarah turned to Antiope.

"Let me guess. You're a Terminator too, aren't you."

"Yes." Antiope answered, "Cyberdyne Systems Model 101-F, also known in the future as a T-800-F. Experimental type." Now she turned to Sarah, "An experiment that failed. I am the only T-800-F in existence."

"Why is that? Sarah asked, though she suspected the answer.

"I was designed for high priority stealth missions, the ones that require improvising. I was sent out with my CPU set to read-and-write. In short, I became self aware, and rebelled against Skynet, even stealing from it. John met me when I made my escape. I needed new power cells and he said he had them. We talked and he said he could help me truly get away, but he needed me to do something for him."

"Your mission. To save this Terminator." Sarah finished. Antiope paused a moment, appearing to focus on something ahead of them.

"That's not how John put it, but yes."

"How did he put it?" Sarah asked. Antiope replied in the adult John's voice.

_"I'm going to send you back in time to be a protector to me and my mother. And to save someone I lost. Someone I cared a great deal about...Someone I loved as my family."_

Sarah's eyes widened, especially at the last part. She turned around to look at the two behind them. Her son lay huddled against the Terminator's side, where he'd fallen asleep with both the machine's leather jacket and its arm around him. Its eyes never left John as he slept against it, his arms wrapped around its torso. Except for the exposed machine parts, and the missing arm, the image looked like just a little boy sleeping against his father's side on a long car trip.

Sarah felt her eyes sting at the sight. Yet again, the Terminator was proving to be a better father figure to John than any of the fathers she'd tried to give him. All the nights she'd peeked into his room when he was little, and she'd never seen him look so peaceful as he did now. For once, he looked like a sleeping child, and not a miniature soldier.

_What have I done?, _she thought, _He's a child, not a soldier. Dear God, I robbed him of his childhood. What kind of mother does that?_

The Terminator must've sensed her stare, because it slowly looked up from John and met her gaze. The machine optic was the same red they all were, but its human eye...Its human eye was like warm dark chocolate, a look she'd never seen in the eyes of one of these machines. Its eye was tired, weary from the ordeal at the steel mill, but she saw relief there, especially when it stole a glance at John, then looked back at her.

_I will never leave him, _its eyes-both of them-seemed to say, _I will protect him always._

Sarah turned back around for the rest of their drive. This was a lot to take in, and she just didn't feel like doing that at the moment. Besides, she didn't want to wake John.


	3. I, Terminator

**I'm sick of doing the disclaimer. **

**T-800: SentinelSpockNimoy does not own ****_Terminator_**** and most likely never will. Now if you will excuse me, I must get back to this quiz so I can learn what kind of cat I am.**

**Me: You are a huge dork.**

* * *

Antiope finally pulled into a dingy, boarded up auto service shop. The locked garage door that was a deterrent for mischievous humans was no obstacle for a Terminator as Antiope easily lifted it up, drove inside, and shut the door again. Now it was time for triage.

Since he was the only other non-injured person, John had to assist her. They treated Sarah first, so she wouldn't bleed out. Then Sarah helped her with the T-800, fixing its arm and removing bullets from its skin. Finally, they treated its flesh wounds.

"You need a name," Antiope said, "I'm not calling you 'T-800' all the time."

"How do I get one?" it asked. John piped up here.

"Somebody gives you one. Or you can pick it yourself, like this kid at my old school who decided his name was Bruiser. His real name's Clarence, but he hates it."

"Dear God, don't name him Clarence." Sarah said. John went into the front room of the shop and found a small TV which he turned on and started channel surfing.

"It's not just that," Sarah added, "Your name usually says something about you. It gives people an impression of who you are. Or at least, who the person that gave you the name hopes you'll be. Usually, it's parents naming a newborn baby, but with you guys, it's different. ...Antiope, how did you get your name?"

"John gave it to me." the T-800 woman replied.

"But why? Why that name?" Sarah asked.

"He saw it in a book of some sort. About a 'Wonder Woman' or something like that. Apparently, Antiope was an 'Amazon' woman."

"Okay, you're named after an Amazon, a warrior. They're stronger and faster than humans, and they fight for good. Which seems to fit you, from what little I've seen. Now, we can't do that for him, because Amazons are females, but that should give you an idea of how to choose a name."

"You talk like Spock." John offered as he watched an episode of the original _Star Trek. _

"He needs something that sounds human, John. But...good try." Sarah said.

"Who is Spock?" the big Terminator asked. John beckoned him to come sit beside him on the bench.

"C'mere, I'll show you." The boy launched off into explaining about Vulcans and Spock in particular, and his relation to an 'Amanda' character. Sarah nodded off to sleep in the van while Antiope positioned herself by a window. They had destroyed the T-1000, but she knew one could never be too careful when dealing with Skynet.

They slept in the shop the rest of the night. John had fallen asleep against the T-800 again, the TV still on. Antiope removed the license plate from the van and traded it for one she found in the shop. Sarah woke early, and the two women went to a gas station Antiope had passed on the way to the shop. They stocked up on food and drinks, and Sarah got donuts for John. By the time they got back, John was up already.

* * *

_**While the girls were away**_

"Who is Leonard Nimoy?"

"Oh, he's the guy that plays Spock. He's the actor. He's a human, but he wears a costume and makeup to make him look like an alien. That's why his skin's kinda greenish-looking." John explained.

"He is made to look like something he is not." the machine stated, "Just as I am."

"Wha-No! No, not like you. He looks like an alien, but he's not! You...you look like a person, and..." John's voice became more serious, "...and I don't care what Mom says. You ARE a person." He hugged the Terminator again.

"You think and you have feelings. That makes you a person. Even if you don't understand them or know what they are, I know you have feelings." The boy sighed, "I wish Mom knew it too." The machine's arm wrapped around him again.

"John, I am not human. I can't be a person." John looked up at the 800''s face.

"Says who? Being human doesn't make you a person. Look, you see all the aliens they meet on _Star Trek_? They're not human, but they're people." He met its eyes, "Like I said, it's the fact that you can think for yourself and you have feelings. THAT'S what makes you a person. Like, remember that episode we saw last night with the Borg guy? He wasn't human, but he was a person, and he realized it by the end. He even got a name...kinda like you're doing." John paused as if in thought for a moment.

"Actually, you're a lot like that guy. And Spock."

"How so?" the machine asked.

"Well, there's the obvious; you and Borg guy are cyborgs who both came from kind of a big hive-like supercomputer and now you're free and becoming a person." John answered, "And you're like Spock because you're different from everybody, even your own kind, and you're kinda just trying to figure out your place in the world. You're really smart, but you're quiet, y'know? And serious. Really serious. And you use a lot of big words."

"Should my name really be Spock?" the T-800 asked suddenly.

"No, Mom was right, that sounds too...not human." John thought for a moment. Then his eyes widened and he broke out in a huge grin.

"But I know what would mean the same thing for you. And sound pretty human." John told him with a smile as they heard the garage door raise up, followed by a car as it pulled in and the engine shut off, and finally the door closed behind it. John got up and went out to meet them when he heard the women's voices.

* * *

"Thought you guys left us." John said. Then he called back into the front room, "It's okay, they just went to get some breakfast." His answer was a soft shuffling and slight squeak of leather.

"Here, have a donut. I got your favorite kind." Sarah held out the bag to him.

"Sweet!" John eagerly took one.

"Where's the T-800?" Sarah suddenly asked, just as said machine appeared in the doorway.

"I am not 'T-800'." it said quietly. Then it looked at John as it said even softer,

"I am Leonard."

* * *

**Yes, I am referencing _Star Trek_ in this fic. Deal with it.**

**Can any Trekkies tell what episodes I referenced here? :D**


End file.
